A Day in Athens

Athens is one of the ancient cities in the world. The greek gods like Athena and Zeus, the great philosophers like Aristotle and Plato once walked in this charming city filled with ancient ruins, neoclassical buildings, classy roof top bars, hip taverns and pubs.

The reason why I visited Greece is to see the Parthenon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most remarkable landmarks in Athens. You’ll be amazed how ancient Greeks gathered all those huge and heavy stones and put it on top of the Acropolis (highest point) to make a temple for the goddess Athena.

I contained my excitement to see this amazing architecture because I wanted to save my visit on Museum Day (May 18) where I can enter the site for free. 🙂 So I explored other interesting places with Sofia, my host.

We first went to the Greek Parliament, a neoclassical building. In front of it is the tomb of an unknown soldier where you can witness changing guards (Evzones) every Sunday at 11 :00am.

Adjacent to Parliament is the Syntagma Square which is the “heart of the city”.

We walked towards Monastiraki square and passed by Flea Market where nice clothes, souvenirs, arts and crafts lined up in the narrow street going to Ancient Agora. Some stuffs are cheap, some are crazy expensive like a headband costs €15 while you can buy it in Divisoria for only €2!

On the way to Ancient Agora, you can see cool cafes and restaurants in front of an archaeological site. I can imagine Socrates and his student Plato walking in this street and discussing philosophical thoughts.

Next to Ancient Agora is the Roman Agora where you can see the Tower of the Winds. It’s an octagonal marbled structure built sometime around 100 BC that served as a weathervane, sundial and water clock.

We ended up in Plaka, a nice neighbourhood with small pathways, fat cats, colourful flowers, white houses with blue accents and graffiti walls.

At the base of Acropolis, Lycabettus Hill can be seen on the other side. We stayed in the area to rest and talked about greek culture and random things.

On our way back home, we rode the metro at Acropoli station. It’s amazing that the metro is as good as a museum with all the replicas of structures of Parthenon, potteries and other antiquities.

There are lots of interesting archaeological sites and museums that I missed to see in Athens, but that’s okay – I have a reason to come back. 😉

I think that the most important thing while travelling is meeting people around the world, making friends and learning from them – their opinions and views in life. You might forget the name of the places you’ve been to but you won’t forget the people you meet and how they made you feel – happy and contented.

To Papadopolous family, thank you very much for making me feel at home in Greece. 🙂